Love's Taming (The Love's Series)

by Maryann Jordan

  Tom simply nodded and began to edge his way around the perimeter. Shane knew that Tom, having had his woman kidnapped a couple of years before, understood. Although at that time, Tom just wanted his fiancé safe. Shane…wanted vengeance.

  “Know what you’re doing?” Matt whispered into his mic. A curt nod was all he received in answer from Shane.

  Before either of them could move, a shout rang out across the compound. “Get out! Feds got the vans!”

  The men on the compound immediately began to run to the remaining vehicles or toward the woods. Shots were fired, but Shane wasn’t able to see where they were coming from. He had last seen Xavier moving back toward the cabin and was heading that way when, suddenly, the dogs in the crates next to the cabin began barking wildly. And he heard a voice. One he knew. Intimately.

  “Go, get out. Go!” a woman’s voice was screaming as a few barking dogs began running around the compound.

  Annie! How the hell did she get back over here and not safely tucked in the woods?

  Shane’s goggles allowed him to see Xavier pounding out of the cabin, raising his arm toward Annie’s back with a gun in his hand. Fuck, I don’t have the right angle! He quickly came up from his crouching position, running toward her as he brought his gun up to aim at Xavier.

  “Annie!” he yelled, hoping she could hear him over the chaotic noise all around the compound as task force agents rushed the gang members who were returning fire.

  A shot rang out from Xavier at the same second a figure in the dark jumped up to push Annie down to the ground. Not knowing if Annie was hit Shane fired, hitting Xavier squarely in the chest.

  Seeing Annie lying still on the ground with another body, blood pooling out from underneath her, he ran over to Xavier who also had blood pouring out of him as his eyes glittered. Compound lights were turned on and Shane jerked off his night goggles, aiming his gun directly at Xavier.

  “You lose, Stoney. I was going to be a dead man anyway once Gerald left,” Xavier said, blood bubbling out of his mouth. “I got your woman. Both of them. I got Rocky and now I got the pretty little doctor.”

  Matt approached Shane, carefully putting his hand on Shane’s shoulder. “Don’t do it, man. Don’t fire on him now. You said she tamed you. Don’t let that wild back out. Annie wouldn’t want that.”

  Shane jerked at hearing Annie’s name, his revolver still pointed directly at Xavier’s head.

  “Shane!” barked Tom, kneeling next to Annie and the unknown rescuer. “She’s alive!”

  At that, Shane whirled his body around seeing Tom pull Annie out from under the other man. Rushing over he threw his body on the ground, pulling her up against his chest. Pushing her hair away from her face, his breath caught in his throat as her wide, green eyes gazed into his face.

  Her cheek was swollen and bruised and there was dried blood from a slash on her neck. She immediately reacted as she threw her arms around his neck, her whole body beginning to shake. “You came, you came,” were the only words she could choke out.

  To Shane, they were music. “You’re safe, baby. I got you.” Rubbing her back with one hand while cupping the back of her head with the other, pressing it tightly to his chest, he rocked her as he continually assured her that it was over.

  “Shane,” came a soft call from over to the side. He and Annie looked over at the same time, seeing what Matt was seeing. The unknown rescuer who had shoved Annie out of the way was Carl, his chest opened with a bullet wound directly to the heart.

  “Nooooo!” screamed Annie as she lunged herself from Shane’s lap to Carl’s body before he could stop her. Wrapping her arms around Carl, trying to pull him up to her, she began to sob uncontrollably. “Nooo, nooo, nooo,” she cried over and over.

  Jake and Tom stood nearby, willing to be of assistance, but knowing that Shane needed to be the one to calm her.

  Shane moved over to her, taking her by the shoulders and talking softly. “Baby, you’ve got to let him go. Come on, sweetheart.” Even as he said the words, he knew she wasn’t hearing them.

  “It’s not his fault. It’s not his fault,” she sobbed over and over, holding his bloody body close to hers.

  Shane, recognizing that she was in shock, looked to Tom and Jake for help. They kneeled down, gently placing their hands on Carl, pulling him slowly away from Annie as Shane moved her back toward him. Her fingers tightened on Carl’s shirt at the last second before she let him go, an agonizing cry coming from deep inside of her.

  “Baby, let them take him. Let them see to him now,” Shane whispered, then felt her let Carl slip from her grasp. He turned her in his arms, enveloping her as she sat in his lap on the compound ground. Holding her tightly, he allowed his eyes to roam around the area for the first time since seeing Xavier come out of the cabin.

  The DEA agents had all of the gang members that were still alive on their knees with their hands on their heads. Guns trained on them, they were being searched and then handcuffed. Tony’s men had gathered off to the side near Shane while Tony reported to the DEA agent in charge.

  A DEA medic came over, kneeling first by Carl’s body checking for a pulse, then moving over to Shane. “Sir, I’d like to check out Doctor Donavan.” Shane shifted her slight weight and then stood with her still in his embrace with the assistance of Tom.

  Annie’s arms, still tightly wound around his neck, increased in their hold as they stood. “Baby, you need to let the medic check you out.” The only response he received was her head shake while still plastered to his chest, her breathing hitching painfully as her sobs subsided.

  A garbled whisper near Matt caught Shane’s attention. Glancing down, he saw Xavier’s mouth moving, gasping. “Looks like you won after all, Stoney,” he uttered before the life finally left his eyes.

  “Yeah, I did,” he acknowledged, cocooning Annie from the two men on the ground. One who tried to take her life, and one who saved it.

  Chapter 29

  Annie sat in the back of the ambulance in Shane’s lap while the medic cleaned her wounds and checked her out as the group of rescuers hovered nearby.

  “Doctor Donavan, we will need your complete statement as soon as possible, but we understand that this has been a shock. I do need to ask you about Doctor Ogden and his level of involvement.”

  Her green eyes opened wide as she replied, “He wasn’t involved. He was just as surprised as I was that this place was here.”

  The agent in charge looked at her doubtfully. “I understand, Dr. Donavan, that you may not have been aware of any involvement that he had, but we are investigating him as well. Anything you can tell us will aid us in that investigation.”

  Pulling away from Shane, she glared at the man in front of her. “He’s dead. He died saving my life. I assure you he wasn’t involved in this group at all.”

  “Well, he may not have mentioned anything to you. If you think of anything, please let us know.”

  “Don’t hold your breath waiting. I’m telling you that he died a hero and that’s how I will remember him. You want someone to pin this all on, you take that piece of…of…man lying in his own blood,” she choked out, putting the fingers of one hand to her lips to stop the quelling while pointing to Xavier lying in the dirt.

  Suddenly, her eyes focused on the crates on the other side of the compound. Jumping out of Shane’s lap, she ran toward them on shaky legs.

  “Fuck! Come back, baby,” Shane shouted as he took off running behind her. The dogs. Jesus, she wants the dogs. He grabbed her arm, gently slowing her down, but did not stop her completely. Keeping her steady on her legs, they walked together to the cages.

  Her eyes took in the horrible conditions up close and the stench almost made her gag. As other agents gathered around, she took control shouting out orders.

  “You need to call animal control. I let a couple of dogs out earlier, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. Until the dogs can be safely handled, you need to keep your hands and fingers away from them.”

&
nbsp; Her eyes quickly scanned the cages, counting over twenty, each with more than one dog. “You need to call the SPCA of Richland as well as the surrounding counties to be able to have enough people and handlers.”

  Shane stood back, a smile on his face, as he watched her take charge of the animals, ordering around the agents and police. Matt, Jake, Tom, and Tony’s men stood to the side watching her as well.

  “You’ve got some woman there, Shane,” Jake commented.

  Tom clapped him on the back. “I see you’ve finally got what I discovered a couple of years ago.”

  Tony and his men continued to watch in amusement as her orders were being carried out. Only when the dogs were safely out of the crates and loaded into clean containers to be taken to a location for inspection could she calm down.

  Annie turned to walk back over to Shane, a smile finally lighting her bruised face as she made her way to him, exhaustion taking over as she slid into his embrace.

  He kissed the top of her head, holding her tight, then looked at the circle of men surrounding them and smiled. “Pure, fuckin’ sunshine, boys. Pure, fuckin’ sunshine.”

  The fight instantly left her body and she slumped back against Shane. Lifting her eyes to his, she pleaded, “Take me home, Shane. Please.”

  Touching his lips to hers, he replied, “You don’t have to beg, baby. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” With that, he stood with her in his arms and they walked toward Tony’s dark SUV with the rest of their group.

  No one knew if she was telling the truth about what she knew about Carl’s involvement. But as far as they were concerned, she told what she felt. That was all that mattered.

  * * *

  Annie didn’t remember the drive to their house. She didn’t remember being carried to their bedroom. She didn’t remember being undressed or being tucked in. What she did remember was waking up to the sight of Shane’s massive chest pressed under her face, his arms around her protectively. She breathed him in. My wild, untamed man. He came for me.

  The morning sun was streaming through the windows, illuminating the couple lying in the bed. She leaned her head back and saw that his eyes were taking her in, intently staring.

  “Did you sleep, honey,” she asked as her fingers lifted to smooth the small crinkles at the corners of his eyes.

  “Not much,” he confessed. “I just wanted to stay awake while I held you, makin’ sure you were really here with me.” He hesitated before continuing, “When I think of what could have happened…”

  His eyes closed for a moment, and when they opened again, she could see pain lingering in their depths.

  “Shane, I’m right here. You came for me. You got me. I’m safe because of you.”

  He grunted as he said, “Baby, you were escaping on your own. I’m so fuckin’ proud of you.”

  She placed a gentle kiss on his lips, and he allowed her this emotion before taking it deeper. She moaned in his mouth, igniting his passion despite having no sleep the night before. Rolling over, he pressed her down into the mattress using his forearms to hold his upper body from crushing her. He held her head in his hands, relishing the feel of her lips against his as his cock nudged against her stomach. He felt her hips begin to move up and down, as though she were desperately seeking relief.

  He slid his hand down to the bottom of her nightie while taking the kiss deeper and wetter. She had just sucked his tongue in her mouth when the sound of scratching on the door interrupted.

  Their eyes flew open as they looked at each other for a moment, waiting to see if the noise would stop. The scratching continued, accompanied now by whimpers.

  Shane dropped his head to her shoulder and sighed. “Gotta take Sarge out babe and you gotta feed the cats.”

  Unable to stifle her giggle, she kissed him quickly before he had a chance to roll off of her. “That’s a promise of what will come later,” she assured him as his eyes skimmed over her, his smile lighting his face.

  Shane walked to the kitchen, letting Sarge out into the back yard while Annie fed the cats. Flipping on the coffee maker, she turned to see Shane already setting out the cups. They moved about the kitchen in perfect harmony, making breakfast as though they had been doing it for years together.

  After a quick meal, they walked out on their patio with their second cups of coffee. Shane headed into the yard to toss a ball with Sarge while Annie settled onto the patio glider. She watched him smile as he tossed the ball and then wrestled on the grass with their dog. Her mind went back to the first time she was with them, months ago…the dark alley, Sarge needing surgery, Shane hiding who he really was. She, who never took risks, threw caution to the wind that night and now she had the love of a wonderful man. Her tamed, wild-man. She couldn’t hold back the smile that lit her face as the memories poured over her.

  At that moment, Shane stopped in his games with Sarge and looked over at Annie, sitting on the patio glider, one leg tucked under her and the other pushing the glider gently back and forth. Her beauty made his breath catch in his throat. How the hell did I get so lucky?

  The morning sun peeked over the trees into the back yard and was now streaming down on her, catching her coppery hair in its beams, illuminating all around. Just then her face, seeming lost in a memory, broke into a smile. As her eyes lifted to meet his, the smile on her face became even larger, spearing him with her radiance.

  Smiling back, he began to cross the yard heading toward her. Pure, fuckin’ sunshine, he thought once more, knowing that he was going to hold that for the rest of his life. Pure, fuckin’ sunshine.

  Epilogue

  (four years later)

  Doctor Douglas – you have a client in room two.

  The pleasant receptionist’s voice carried across the PA system and Annie stood up, stretching her back as she looked out of the window before leaving the lab area to move toward the front. The window faced the field next to the clinic, the wildflowers in the meadow in bloom. The grass around the clinic was trimmed neatly and she could see the edges of the dog kennels and runs in the back. She could also see the sign that hung near the kennels – Cranston and Donavan.

  Leon passed her in the hall carrying a wiggling Daschund pup in his arms. He leaned over to kiss the top of her head saying, “You doing okay doc?”

  “Thanks Leon, but I’m okay. Just getting a little twinge, that’s all.” She walked into the exam room where her vet tech Suzanne was already finished with her part of the exam and was ready to assist Annie.

  The client was with her two children and their mama cat with its four kittens in a box. Annie and Suzanne worked quickly and efficiently, their years together aiding in their harmony, examining all of the cats while answering the children’s many questions.

  “Your clinic is very nice,” the client said as she tried unsuccessfully to shush her children. “Have you been here long?”

  Annie smiled with pride as she replied, “We opened about a year ago. I used to have a practice in the middle of downtown Richland, but this location is so much closer to my home. And besides that, it is just what I always wanted.”

  “Are you the only vet here? How can you take care of all the animals?” the little girl said.

  “Well, I have two other vets who work with me and then I have four assistants.”

  The little girl’s questions were endless, but Annie answered them all, remembering herself at that age wanting to know everything she could about animals.

  After they left, it was near the end of the day and the others in the clinic surrounded her.

  “Guys, it’s not like I’ll be gone forever,” she laughed as they all hugged her. “Just a couple of months.”

  “We just want to wish you luck on your little vacation,” Leon joked.

  “Oh yeah, my vacation will be really relaxing, I’m sure.”

  Suzanne hugged her tightly saying, “Now call me the first minute you feel something, promise?”

  Looking into the eyes of her beautiful friend she hugged ba
ck, promising.

  “You ‘bout ready to go, baby?” came the gravelly voice behind her.

  Annie turned around smiling at the sound. Standing in the reception area looking every bit as handsome as the first time she ever laid eyes on him was Shane, holding Ross, their very sleepy two year old son. “Yeah, honey. Just saying goodbye.”

  He nodded benevolently, then waited as she quickly said goodbye to the rest of her staff as Leon and Suzanne cooed over Ross. As she walked toward him his eyes dropped down to her swollen belly and he felt the familiar pounding of his heart whenever he thought of what all she had brought into his life. A home decorated in family, a wife, a son, and a soon to be born child…sunshine in his dark world.

  That evening, after Ross was settled in his bed, and as the sun was setting, they sat on the sofa together relishing the quiet time, knowing that in less than a week their house would be bursting with a new baby and family galore. She leaned her heavy body against his and he wrapped his arms around her, one across her chest and the other hand protectively on her stomach.

  “It’s going to get wild around here soon,” she said, thinking of the coming weeks.

  “You okay with all of that, baby?” he asked, pulling her in closely, lifting a hand to push her hair away from her shoulder so he could place a gentle kiss there.

  “Sure, honey. It’s the roller-coaster, remember?”

  Shane laughed, remembering their conversation from long ago in her tiny apartment. “I also seem to remember you telling me that you were scared of heights and falling off.”

  “And I remember you telling me that it was living. And being on the roller-coaster with someone you love makes the ride worth it.” Twisting around in his arms so that she could peer into his eyes, she smiled as she cupped his strong jaw. “And honey, you were right. You and that little boy upstairs and this baby coming…make it all worth it.”

  Shane leaned in and took her mouth. The kiss was soft. Tender. Full of promise. Full of love. The kiss of a wild man who had been tamed by love…and pure, fuckin’ sunshine.